Waterfall visit leaves sour taste

We have recently returned home from our fifth holiday to your beautiful island and feel that a letter to the editor would be the best way to let tourists and locals know of our experience in the hope that it won't happen to others.

Four of our group had done the cross-island walk by themselves and at Wigmores Waterfall they decided to jump in and wash off the mud from their journey.

They placed their personal belongings (cell phones, watches, backpacks etc) on the table nearest the falls within their field of vision while they cleaned off. But once they got back out they discovered everything had been stolen.

As it was near 6pm, no other vehicles or people were at the falls so someone had to have been hiding in the trees watching them. We reported it to the police, because this certainly would not have been the first time something like this has happened and am sure it won't be the last time this has happened at the falls. However, the police told us that because we were going home in a couple of days, they wouldn’t be following up on the theft.

I would have thought that at least a police visit there occasionally might deter the thieves.

By the way, the young locals at the entrance to the road leading up to the falls stopping us for money each time were rude and unfriendly, as was the lady in the house beside the abandoned Sheraton building who yelled at us when we hopped out of the car to take photos, saying that we had to pay her to do that.

I spoke to a lovely local lady who used to take her children up the falls every Sunday but has now stopped because of the road “toll” and she also believes it’s only a matter of time before something “really bad” happens up at the falls.

We really love visiting your island, most locals are beautiful people and we will be back, but this has left a really bad taste in our mouths.

The watch that my son had stolen was left to him by his grandfather who recently passed away. My message to tourists is, stay away from Wigmore Falls.